In Purgatory's Shadow

Chapter 9: Treading into Dark Waters

"Oxygen tanks- check. Fuel gauge- check," Cyborg said as he manipulated seemingly random switches and buttons in his cockpit of the T-Sub, which itself sat in an upright docking position in the Tower's launch bay, "Are you sure you want to do this, Robin? This still seems like a half-baked strategy to me."

"We have to take control of this battle, Cyborg," the team leader responded over the radio in his own cockpit, "You heard Isis; she could easily attack us at any time. As much as I'd hate to admit it, the Tower is the most vulnerable target with her powers. If we don't move now then it will only give her the advantage."

"I agree with Robin," Starfire spoke up, "However, I am afraid for the safety of our home while we are away. Who is to say that Isis will not simply destroy it in our absence"

"Don't worry about that, Star," Cyborg responded, "I've got a little trick up my sleeve that I've been saving for just such an occasion. I assure you, the Tower will still be in one piece when this is all done."

"Assuming that we're still in one piece when this is over," Raven added.

"How are you two doing in there?" Robin asked the two teammates who had to share a cockpit.

"We're doing just fine," Terra answered.

"Squawk. Just fine," copied a particularly green parrot perched on her shoulder, causing Terra to break out a little giggle.

"If I had the time, I'd have modified a sixth cockpit on the T-sub," Cyborg said.

"I really don't think they mind," Raven observed, "Now, if we're all done chit-chatting, do you think we can launch now?"

"Just one more thing before we go," Robin said as he typed on the keyboard of his on-board computer. In a moment the T-Car, parked within the same chamber, lit up and drove out through the underwater road tunnel, leading to the city streets, of it's own accord.

Cyborg frantically pressed himself up against the glass dome of his cockpit, watching his baby drive away "What- what are you doing, man?" he protested, "You can't put my baby out on those mean streets all alone!"

"It's a diversion," Robin explained very matter of fact, "Try to understand. We're taking the sub. It's the stealthiest way out of here, but it also leaves us as targets. With the tower in lockdown, we can't turn back. It'll perceive even us as threats until we release the codes to stand down the security lockout. At maximum speed, it'll take us 4 minutes and 17 seconds to cross the bay and make landfall at a safe enough distance. That's an eternity during which we'll be completely surrounded by water and vulnerable to attack. This may buy us the time we need to make sure we come through in one piece. It's kind of messy, but it's the best we can do on this kind of notice. Now, you were saying something about a launch?"

"I don't see your motorcycle being used as a decoy," Cyborg grumbled under his breath as he initiated the launch sequence. Heavy machinery whirled and grinded as the T-sub slowly rotated from it's upright position to prepare for a nose-dive into the circular pool of water below. Terra, whom has never had the privilege to travel in this fashion, suddenly felt nausea creep on.

"Squawk, hold on!" the parrot on her shoulder advised. She swallowed hard and braced her arms against the dashboard.

Following a loud buzzer, the T-sub was released from the large mechanical clamps that held it secure in the dock and was dropped into the water. A second after submerging, the headlights flicked on and the rear propellers proceeded to carry the vessel through the water filled tunnel and out into the bay, sealing the entrance behind it.

Starfire looked back at sealed entrance to her home, "Ooohh, I do hope that I left Silkie with enough food."

"Don't worry, Starfire," Robin responded, "I gave him his bowl when I put him in the T-Car."

"Well, that was very kind of you to… YOU DID WHAT! You are using my Silkie as a decoy for that- that Cloorbag Berggle-snekk!"

Robin cringed as Starfire's anger pierced his ear, "I'm sorry, Star. But I did it to keep him safe. The T-Car has auto-defences and no living thing can be in the Tower when Cyborg implements the 'one-ten'."

"The 'one-ten'?" Starfire cocked her head.

"It means 110 percent lockdown," Cyborg explained with a hint of pride, "Nothing gets in and nothing gets out for a 1 mile radius. Now everyone look at your screens cuze I'm only going to do this once." He whirled his finger around in the air before pressing it down on a button on his opposing forearm. Everyone stared intensely at the screens in their respective cockpits.

The first sign that something very big was about to happen was a loud siren whining though the air, giving fair warning to anyone standing too close to the Tower at the time. After a few rounds of a sound loud enough to wake the dead, all of the lights in the Tower dimmed out from top to bottom. The Tower itself then began to progressively sink into the ground with a monstrous mechanical sound, stopping only when the cross in the T hit the ground, accented with a sound akin to thunder. But the spectacle wasn't over as lengthy ramps emerged from the ground around the island all facing what was still visible of the Titan's home. In a moment, heavy steel plates shot out from the ramps and attached onto the edges of the Tower's rim. Securely creating a trapezoid design with more than enough turrets emerging from every feasible position.

"Okay, that was excessive," Raven commented.

"After all the cheap shots villains have taken at our Tower, I figured it was about time to make something like that," Cyborg explained.

"Um, guys," Terra groaned, "I never told you this before, but I get sea sick reeeaaally easily."

"What?" Cyborg asked, "You couldn't have told us this before? You had better not make a mess in there, girl!"

"Well, I'm sorry. But I haven't been on a boat since I was a kid. I thought I would have, you know, out grown it."

"Terra," came Raven's voice over the radio, which surprised her a little, "Close your eyes and take deep steady breathes in through your nose and out through your mouth."

"Does that really work?" Starfire asked.

"It works for keeping one's demonic heritage suppressed, I'd imagine that vomit falls under the same category."

Terra followed the advice and soon enough she could feel her stomach fall back under control. "Thanks," she said with a sigh of relief. A moment of tranquility that didn't last long enough as red lights began to flash and an alarm rang through the sub.

"There's a large object off the port bow!" Robin exclaimed, "it's… it's an iceberg!"

"No!" Terra gasped, "How could she find us already?"

"Looks like we'll just have to survive long enough to ask her later!" Cyborg responded as he commenced evasive maneuvers.

The sub easily rolled right to avoid collision, letting the iceberg harmlessly float by. But another formed instantly in the path of their evasion. The sudden expansion of the water created rough currents and made it difficult to duck the sub under this new threat. Upon escaping death, two more icebergs formed on opposing sides of the sub and were drawn to each other with a menacing force. Cyborg had to power on the after thrusters to avoid getting pancaked between them. Not surprisingly, another iceberg formed right in front of them, Cyborg quickly rotated the after thrusters downward and sent the sub into a forward flip over this threat.

"Is everyone alright?" Cyborg asked upon roughly correcting the sub's level.

"I… (urp)… don't think I can take much more of this," Terra groaned.

"I'm picking up a bio signature," Raven explained, "It's Isis, she's right above us on the water's surface."

"Oh, I am wishing that Aqua Lad still lived in our bay," Starfire said.

"So much for our planning," Cyborg muttered, "It looks like we'll have to make our stand right here."

"I told you, I won't let her control this battle!" Robin yelled, infuriated that everything was falling apart in little more than a minute after departure, "Give me the controls! Cyborg, you man the torpedoes! Raven, provide us some cover! Everyone else, hold on for your lives!"

Robin then gripped the throttle and, without hesitation, sent the sub into a series of daring maneuvers over, under, and around constantly emerging icebergs. Raven pressed her hands up against the dome of her cockpit and chanted "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" to envelop the sub in a protective shield of Dark Matter. Occasionally, small holes would break out in front of the Dark Mater shield to let torpedoes flow through.

As the Titans progressed, the attacks became more aggressive. Soon entire walls of ice would emerge in their path, making it increasingly difficult for Robin to keep them on their course towards the canyon. One particular maneuver drew them so close to the surface of the water, that when Terra looked up, she could see the silhouette of a familiar figure hovering just above the surface, following their every move. Though she could only see a rough silhouette, she could have sworn that Isis was looking directly at her. This was a moment that lasted only a few seconds as the sub dove back into the deep.

After what seemed like an eternity of death defying maneuvers, Starfire finally spoke up, "We are approaching a land mass! At our current speed and course we will reach it in approximately 20 seconds."

"Good, we finally made it!" Robin confirmed, "Now listen up! When we land, I want everyone to run as fast as they can away from the water. We'll make our stand only when I say so!"

"Yes sir!" they all responded. And within a few seconds, the sub arched upwards, ramping onto the beach that leads into the canyon.

All of their cockpits opened and the Titans sprinted out and onto the beach. Beast Boy returned to human form to help the queasy Terra keep up with the rest of the pack. The foreboding winds of late autumn moaned through the canyon, yet despite this, it was supposedly the best place for them to be at the time.

No words were exchanged, as everyone completely understood the urgency of the situation. All they could do was progress further away from the coastline; further into the safety of the canyon walls, in a last ditch effort to gain the advantage.

Eventually, when he felt that they were at a safe enough distance, Robin skidded to a halt, turned around and readied his staff. All of the other Titans followed suit. They all waited, staring down the mouth of the canyon, waiting for their opponent to make her presence known. But nothing happened. Only the wind graced them with its presence.

"I do not believe that she followed us this far," Starfire assumed.

"Run, run, run, run. Is that all you so called heroes are good for?" asked an eerily familiar voice from behind the group.

All the Titans spun around to be greeted by a thin, feminine figure completely concealed by a long, fur lined coat, with the hood pulled up so that only the bottom portion of her face was visible beyond the shadows.

"Isis," Robin said with contempt as he planted a foot forward and shifted into a battle stance, "You have a lot of nerve!"

"And you are all cowards," she gave a belittling smirk, "I mean, if I hadn't tapped your communications line, I would have never known you were trying to avoid me. I'm flattered actually, that I am intimidating enough to cause the all mighty Teen Titans to run away crying."

"Laugh now, Isis. But we've got you exactly where we want you!"

Isis gave a casual look at her surroundings, "Hmm, you're right. There isn't a drop of water in sight. Looks like you've really got me," she placed the back of her hand up to her forehead and preceded in a mockingly dramatic fashion, "Oh, how could I have falling for such an ingenious plot. You Titans are really too smart for me."

"Shut up," Robin snapped.

"Well, come on, Boy Wonder. Why don't you be the first to take a hit at this poor, defenceless little girl," she swung her arms out to her sides, "I dare you."

Robin snarled as he charged forward to take Isis up on her bluff. But with one swift movement, Isis threw off her coat and created a hooked ice blade out of thin air to entangle and deflect Robin's staff. Continuing with the assault, she formed an ice fist around her opposing hand and clocked Robin right across the jaw. And as a final move, she gave him a roundhouse kick right in the stomach, sending the martial arts prodigy flailing backwards into his friends.

For the first time, the Teen Titans got a good look at what their opponent has been working on for the past three days. Gone was her former, casual attire as what she wore now could only be described as a form fitting glossy black suit with cybernetic-like, blue veins running the length of her arms and legs. And fashioned onto her shoulders, hands, and feet were mechanisms fitted with tinted glass domes and lined with small vents. Her eyes were protected behind a blue visor. This suit was nothing like the one Terra wore under the command of Slade, this was sleek; almost stealth like.

She then clicked buttons on each of her palms, causing both of her frosty weapons to melt in an instant and fall to the ground forming a puddle of water. She planted one foot into the puddle and in a moment it was completely adsorbed into her suit. "Do you like it?" She grinned, "It absorbs all water I come in contact with and stores it for me to use at will. Courtesy of Professor Chang, always willing to help out an up and coming super villain."

"You're no super villain!" Cyborg objected as he charged up his sonic cannon, "You're just sick!" And with that he started the battle with a sonic blast aimed directly at the villainy girl. She nimbly dodged aside and flung her arm forward to send a couple of icicles hurling towards her attacker. The icicles were promptly met with Dark Matter as Raven rush forward to engage the girl in hand-to-hand combat. With Dark Matter accenting every swipe of her hands, she managed to keep Isis preoccupied long enough for Starfire to come around to the side and throw a well aimed star bolt at the Icy Diva.

Isis dodged backwards to narrowly avoid Starfire's energy attack; she then disengaged herself from Raven, jumped back a few feet, and threw her open palms to the ground. Causing a strip of icy spikes to bolt out from the ground in two different directions towards both Starfire and Raven, to which the girls evaded by levitating into the air.

Starfire immediately unleashed her eye beams upon her opponent. Isis evaded to the side and looked up to see Beast Boy dive-bombing at her as a falcon. She raised an ice shield to block him but right before the impact, he transformed into an armadillo and rolled up in an armoured ball. With the force of a cannon ball, he shattered the girl's defence and slammed her in the gut.

Isis backed into the canyon wall, wincing in pain. She didn't have any time to recover as a furious half-demon came rocketing right at her. She crafted a spiked wall of ice and sent it against Raven, but Raven quickly enveloped herself in Dark Matter, phased through the oncoming ice wall, and delivered a Dark Matter infused punch to the villainy girl. Isis quickly ducked under as Raven's fist left an imprint on the wall where her head once stood. The Icy Diva then counter attacked with an uppercut to her opponent's face. Raven's head bounced off Isis's fist but then snapped back with glowing white eyes. Relentless, Raven came at Isis with a left hook. Hitting nothing but air she came at her again with the other hand. This time Isis skilfully gripped Raven by the offending arm and, with blue light in her eyes, began to channel her energy through her opponent's flesh as she had once done to Beast Boy. Raven felt an unbearable sting shoot up her arm but managed to stand her ground long enough to give Isis a hefty punch right between the eyes.

Though her visors protected her, the force caused Isis's head to slam against the wall. Lunging back at Raven, she returned the blow with a well-aimed left hook and followed up with a forward kick accented with a pillar of ice shooting out from the sole of her boot to knock Raven away.

Isis took a second to strip the broken visors from her face as a large crack in it, left by Raven's last assault, obscured her vision. She looked up in time to see Cyborg charging up his weapon and she broke away from her position as a sonic blast ripped apart the wall she was just standing against. She sprinted to the side then vaulted a legion of icicles at the silver clad Titan. Cyborg shattered the assault with a sonic wave created by slamming his fists into the ground. As a final move, he unleashed duel sonic blasts, both of them hitting Isis like a freight train. She flew back 20 feet and tumbled to the ground.

Isis jumped to her feet and saw that all of the Titans were advancing on her. "That's it," she thought to herself, "time to stop playing with my food," And with that she stretched her arms to her sides and brought the blue light to her eyes, letting it flow to her open palms. In a moment the Titans halted in their advance to witness flank after flank of icicles emerge from the girl's form. When Isis had a nigh uncountable army of icicles, she unleashed them upon the teenage heroes. Some of the flanks shot straight forward, some of them, arched upwards to come down as a rain of spikes. But never the less, the Titans were mercilessly bombarded with row after row of deadly icicles. Isis grinned menacingly, for once she had complete control over this battle. She was so enthralled that she didn't notice that her breath was running cold or that her fingertips grew numb.

The Titans tried as they might to dodge, deflect, destroy, but one by one, they were all stricken and fell. When Isis had felt that enough was enough. She dropped her arms and the attack came to an abrupt stop. She let out an exalted breath as she surveyed her handiwork. The all mighty Titans were all down on the ground, groaning in pain, barely in any condition to face her. It was a beautiful sight, but still, it wasn't enough. She glanced over to see Terra, the only one whom didn't participate in battle, backed up against the canyon wall, trying to make herself invisible. She saw the panic in her sister's eyes and crafted a wicked idea.

Isis grinned and walked purposefully over to Beast Boy, whom was lying in a semi-conscience state on the ground. He groaned as he struggled to focus his eyes to see Isis crouched down beside him and run a finger down the length of his nose, "This just isn't your day. Eh, Little Freak?" She then gripped him firmly by the collar and hoisted him to his feet. Making sure that Terra could see everything, she kissed him violently on the lips then created a thick ice collar around his neck. Letting him slip from her fingers, the still out-of-it Beast Boy was flung like a rag doll towards the canyon wall. Pinned very firmly against it by his ice collar. Flicking her hand into the air, Isis formed a large icicle above her head. But instead of releasing it, she simply looked at her sister, "Aren't you going to stop me?" she mockingly asked.

Terra looked on with fear and anxiety, she knew that Beast Boy's life depended on her. She worked up as much energy as she could to bring the yellow light to her eyes. Exerting so much effort that it seemed as if the concentration alone would break her, she dislodged a basketball-sized rock from the canyon wall, forced it to come to her side, then tried to hurl it at Isis. But it fell short several feet from its target.

Isis smirked at her sister's pathetic display, "It sucks being powerless, doesn't it?" Her grin became demonic as she turned her attention back to Beast Boy and drew her arm back, preparing to strike, "Your loss."

"Isis, NO!" Terra screamed, but it was too late as the icicle flew on a lethal path towards Beast Boy's head. Time seemed to slow down for Terra and Beast Boy as well, as he looked up to see his demise looming closer with no time or method to evade. This looked to be the grim death of Beast Boy except that, jumping in from the side, Robin's staff came down on the projectile, slamming it to the ground in two pieces.

Finally being of sound and complete mind, Beast Boy managed to transform into a snake and slither out from that which stapled him to the wall. He returned to human form as Terra rushed over to him and buried her head into his chest, professing, "I'm sorry," a dozen times.

Isis scoured at the failed attack as Robin now stood bravely between her and her target, "What's the matter Bird Boy? Couldn't wait your turn? Fine! I'll just deal with you right now them," And with that she crafted a pair of icy battle claws on her hands and dared Robin to make the first move.

Without hesitation, Robin pounced at Isis, leapt in the air, and came down on her with a wide horizontal swing of his staff. To which Isis back flipped to evade. Robin planted his feet onto the ground and reversed the swing of his staff to take another shot at Isis. This time she deflected the attack with her right arm, but the force shattered her battle claw. She lunged at him with the other hand and engraved a row of scratches across his chest. Robin came back with three quick jabs from his staff. Isis dodged the first two and managed to catch the staff in the third move in between her battle claws. Bringing her other hand up to grip the staff, she attempted to pull it away from her opponent. But Robin pulled back just as hard. Isis resorted to spraying Robin in the face with frost, blinding him momentarily. Isis yanked the staff away from him and attempted to strike him with it using a wide, downward swing. Robin wiped the frost from his mask and slipped to the side just in time, allowing the staff to hit the ground. He planted one foot on the staff and used the leverage to deliver a spinning kick to Isis. He managed to knock his opponent back and reclaim his weapon. Furious, Isis let loose a series of icicles in rapid succession. Robin skilfully managed to dodge and deflect every one of them, charge right up to her, and slam her right in the shoulder with a swing of his staff.

The transparent dome embedded into the shoulder of Isis's suit cracked from the impact and the water, forced into a specialized state of compression, was now seeking freedom from between the cracks in the shoulder piece. Isis looked down at the damage in panic, seeing her precious ammunition seep out. Robin saw this as the apparent weak link in her defence and took another swing at the same spot with full force. Isis tried to evade but Robin's staff found its way, utterly shattering Isis's shoulder piece. The water now sprayed out like a fire hose, giving enough force to make Isis stumble to the side. As quickly as she could she clasped her hand over the broken dome, the water still gushed out from between her fingers, and she willed the escaping water to solidify, giving a quick fix to her problem.

Looking down at a meter on her wrist, Isis was shocked at just how much water she lost, "Only 14 percent left?" she said to herself before shooting a glare at Robin and diving at the newly formed pool of water that laid on the ground, hoping to reabsorb it. But an inch before her hand made contact with the water; Dark Matter came between her and the prize and flung her across the canyon. She roughly slammed against the canyon wall and fell to the ground. She furiously clawed her way to her feet and brought the intense blue light to her eyes. The abandoned pool of water froze so instantaneously that the canyon floor actually cracked under the sudden expansion of that which it cradled.

Isis swung her arms forward, forcing the frozen pool to come towards her at breakneck speeds. So focused was she at reclaiming her precious resource that she didn't even bother to levitated away from the ground first, causing it to kick up dust and rubble as it dragged itself towards her.

"Starfire, Stop her!" Robin yelled. And in an instant, the alien girl came in between Isis and the oncoming ice. With monstrous strength, Starfire caught the ice in both hands and struggled to keep it from its destination. Hard as it was since the villainy girl had a magnetic pull on the element. Relentless, Isis planted her feet and increased her concentration to the point where her eyes were smouldering with the blue light.

"You will not have it!" Starfire sneered through her teeth even though she could feel her feet sliding backwards. Isis would have proven her wrong if not for a large green bison that came charging in and slammed her in the side, causing her to loose her concentration. Starfire felt the invisible force give slack and without hesitation, she hurled the ice like a Frisbee far out of Isis's reach into the bay.

With water still trickling down her arm from the patch job, Isis let out a scream of rage and prepared and icicle to impale the interloping changeling. But before she could launch it, she was struck in the arm by a baseball-sized rock. She looked over to see Terra bravely standing a few feet away, holding a fist full of rocks in one hand. Furious beyond comprehensible thought, Isis charged at her sister, but she was forced back against the canyon wall as Terra used what remained of her powers to fling off one rock after another, hitting her sister with the force of a pellet gun. Backed against the wall and enraged beyond belief, Isis so longer cared about conserving what remained of her ammunition as she fired off a barrage of icicles in every direction.

"Cyborg, now!" Robin ordered as he easily deflected a few icicles that happened to find their way towards him. Ready to unleash his secret weapon that he has been saving for just this moment, Cyborg swung his left arm forward. But instead of going through the usual transformation to make a sonic cannon, his arm underwent an entirely different conversion, sporting a couple of tubes that snaked out form his forearm and attached firmly to the stubs on his shoulder pads while emitting a red light from under the panels.

"You shouldn't have underestimated us," Cyborg said before he let loose the secret weapon. From the end of his converted arm shot out a wide, red beam akin to that from the metal cylinder that Isis fought as part of her training. This beam however, did not narrow to a fine point, but instead remained at a wide area, encompassing Isis completely.

Isis could feel the affects of this device immediately; it was like walking into an oven. She tried to counteract with ice, but before she could do that she noticed that the patchwork on her shoulder was melting away. In a moment the ice on her shoulder gave away and the water burst out from her suit again. She attempted to freeze over the broken shoulder piece again but she couldn't lower the water's temperature fast enough under Cyborg's heat beam. As Isis's precious water hit the ground and evaporated under the extreme heat, she soon found that escape was her only choice. She attempted to run away but Cyborg easily followed after her with the heat beam. Exhausted from battle and growing dizzy from the heat, she tripped and collapsed on the ground.

Down on her hands and knees, she looked up it see Raven standing over her. "It's over, Isis," Raven told her, "You're completely out of your element, even with the Gaia you're utterly powerless. So just give up and save yourself the humiliation."

Rage flashed in Isis's eyes as she lunged herself at Raven, an open palm aimed at the half-demon's throat. Unfazed, Raven brushed Isis's arm aside as it came at her and swiftly backhanded Isis across the face. This sent the pathetic girl spiralling onto the ground to lie in a panting mass of defeat. Cyborg let off on the heat beam.

Snarling like a beast, Isis darted her gaze around to the Titans whom stood over her, daring her to make another move. Her eyes twitched with an uncontrollable rage to which she could find no release. Finally, she cast her gaze on Terra, standing there despondently. Bringing about an odd air of calmness, Isis slowly, and cautiously, brought herself to her feet, and walked, step-by-step, over to her sister. Terra shifted her eyes to the side once or twice, but remained as focused as she could on her demonic counterpart inching towards her. The other Titans didn't try to stop her, but stood prepared in case she did try to pull something.

Isis looked her sister up and down and slowly cocked her head to the side, her eyes were tired, her hair drenched in sweat. "Are you afraid of me?" she asked.

"Why should I be?" Terra answered sharply.

"Do I scare you?" Isis pressed.

"No!"

A moment of silence flowed between them before Isis added, "Too bad… because I've been afraid of you all my life."

Terra was set back by that confession, "What happened to you? What have I ever done to make you hate me so much?"

Isis's eyes narrowed, her lip curled, something inside her broke in half. Instead of giving a straightforward answer, she simply drew her head back and shot it forward, giving Terra a solid head butt. Terra sprawled to the ground and Isis proceeded to kick her while she was down.

Beast Boy immediately stepped in and punched the offending girl in the face, sending her to the ground, before coming to Terra's aid. "I'm fine, I'm fine," Terra assured him while he helped her to her feet.

"Don't worry," Beast Boy said, "She can't hurt you anymore."

His promise was met with laugher from the villainy girl whom did not bother to rise from the ground. Her laugh was hysterical, like the green boy's words came as some kind of joke to her. It echoed throughout the canyon, loud, mocking laugher. Had she truly gone mad, or was there something she knew, that the Titans didn't?

Author's Notes:
Well, here we go, I just finished writing the author's notes for the next chapter so I don't really have anything left to say here. I finished this rewrite about a week before I started on the next chapter. But I chose not to upload it then because I wasn't sure if FFN would alert my loyal readers if a chapter was being replaced. So now I'm uploading them both together and you have a whole chapter in a half to read. Enjoy.